


Unfolding

by sakuranohiraishin



Category: Keyakizaka46 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:48:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28610112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakuranohiraishin/pseuds/sakuranohiraishin
Summary: She had come to the village hidden in the forest to find out why all the people who went there seemed to disappear. But now, Detective Watanabe Risa could only watch in shock as the village's secrets unfolded in front of her.
Relationships: Shida Manaka/Watanabe Risa (implied)
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

The car stopped in front of a big wall, and the driver turned around in his seat to face the woman sitting in the backseat. “That’s it, Miss. This is as far as I can take you; the people in there are a bit crazy, they don’t want cars or anything modern in their village, so you’ll have to walk the last bit.”

The woman nodded and handed him some money. “Thank you for taking me here.”

“No problem, Miss.”

Detective Watanabe Risa picked up her bag and got out of the car, stepping onto the sandy road that led to the village. She was surprised to find the streets completely silent.

_ Bang! _

Risa spun on her heels in surprise, but she couldn’t see anything or anyone; it had sounded like someone had slammed a door shut.

_ Click. _

Nearby, she could also hear the sound of a key being turned in a lock.  _ At least that means I’m not alone here _ , Risa told herself. She picked her bag up from where she had dropped it on the ground and walked towards the closest house to knock at the door. However, there was no reaction, not even after she had knocked for a second and a third time. Risa looked around to check if she had just overlooked the doorbell, but there was indeed no button that she could press.

She got the same results with the other nearby houses. Everything was silent, and Risa was the only person in the streets. Even when she tried to look into the houses, she couldn’t see anything—except for the one time someone pulled a curtain closed right in front of her face.

Eventually, Risa got to a house that seemed a bit bigger and more luxurious than the other houses; she assumed that this was the mayor’s house. At this door, she only had to knock two times. Then it was opened by a woman, perhaps a bit younger than Risa herself, with short black hair. “Yes?”

“My name is Watanabe Risa,” Risa introduced herself. “I’m a Detective; I’m here to investigate something.”

The woman seemed to tense up a little, but she nodded slightly. “I understand. Please come inside so we can talk about everything.”

Risa followed her inside into a room that looked like a very old-fashioned office. She sat down on a chair in front of the desk, and the young woman sat down on the chair behind the desk, a slightly awkward expression on her face. “I’ve always hated this,” Risa heard her mutter, and she wondered if the woman meant the chair or something else.

For a moment, they awkwardly remained silent; then, the young woman spoke up. “My name is Shida Manaka. I’m the mayor’s daughter; it’s nice to meet you.”

“Can I speak to the mayor?”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible. He’s… not here right now.” Manaka averted her eyes briefly, but then looked back at Risa. “I’ll answer your questions in his place. If I can.”

Risa sighed quietly; this was not going the way she had planned it. On the other hand, even after doing research for a long time, she hadn’t really been able to find out anything about the village, so maybe making plans had been futile anyways.

“How long are you planning to stay here?” Manaka’s voice forced Risa to focus on her again.

“I don’t know. A few days; I need to investigate properly.”

Manaka nodded slightly, still looking kind of tense. “I’ll show you to the guest room later. What are you investigating here?”

The Detective pulled a small notebook out of her pocket; the sooner she got some answers to note down, the better. “There have been many cases of people disappearing in this area. Can you tell me anything about that?”

“...people have disappeared?” There was a surprised tone in Manaka’s voice, but it sounded a little faked to Risa. “Have they been found yet?”

“If they had, I wouldn’t have come here to look for them. So…?”

“I don’t know anything!” Manaka burst out, and she looked shocked about her own reaction for a moment before she regained control over her expression. “I mean… the people here are kind of hostile towards strangers, they won’t like seeing you here. I doubt anyone will be able to tell you what you want to know, so… how about you just leave?”

Risa’s eyes narrowed. “No, that’s not an option.”

Manaka let out a long sigh, then she nodded in reluctant acknowledgement. “Fine. In that case, I’ll show you around the village tomorrow, is that alright? Since it’s kind of late now.”

The Detective glanced at her wristwatch and nodded. “Yes. If you can provide me with an opportunity to talk to some people from the village, I’d appreciate that as well.” She pulled out her phone and frowned when she noticed the  _ No Service _ notification at the top of the screen. “...and I need a phone to call some people and send some messages later.”

The mayor’s daughter looked a little relieved upon hearing that. “We have one,” she said. “It’s a bit old, I think, but it works well enough, so you can use it.”

The phone, Risa noticed immediately when she entered the room it was in, had a rotary dial. “‘A bit old?!’” she repeated what Manaka had said about the phone earlier. “This is… at least fifty years old! I was talking about something like  _ this _ ,” she took out her own phone again and showed it to Manaka.

The younger woman took it into her hands a bit skeptically, as if she feared it would hurt her. “What  _ is  _ this? There’s no way that’s a phone.”

Her eyebrows furrowing in irritation, Risa shook her head. “Of course it is. It’s a cell phone.”

“A… cell phone. Of course.” Manaka still sounded confused as she gave the phone back to Risa.

“You really don’t know what that is?”

“No, I don’t,” Manaka said, “and I don’t want to know. Anyways, you can use this phone. I bet it works a hundred times better than your… cell phone.”

“I sure hope it does, because my phone can’t even access the internet in this place,” Risa mumbled and felt even more irritated when Manaka asked, “The  _ what _ ?”

Then they continued on with their tour around the house. Manaka left out a few rooms that she said were just storage rooms and bedrooms, and Risa mentally told herself to check those rooms out on her own later. They finally reached the guest room and Manaka opened the door, gesturing for Risa to go inside first. “This is it,” she said, “it’s a bit dusty, I’m sorry about that. We haven’t had any visitors stay overnight in the last hundred years or so.”

“But you had other visitors? People who didn’t stay overnight? What happened to them?”

“They left within the same day, obviously. What happens to you when you go somewhere and don’t spend the night there?” Manaka asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Risa sighed; she’d have to find a different way to get the answers she needed. “Fine, you’re right,” she relented. “But those people  _ disappeared _ , and they were last seen heading to this village, so obviously the police would investigate here.”

Manaka kept any other comment to herself; perhaps, Risa thought, she knew something that she didn’t want to spill accidentally.  _ I’ll get you to tell me whatever you know, just wait. _

“Are you hungry, Watanabe-san?”

Risa flinched slightly when that question dragged her out of her thoughts, but she nodded. “A little.”

“Alright, I’ll make us dinner then. Feel free to make yourself comfortable here.” The younger woman left the room to prepare dinner, and Risa started looking around. In the room, there was a big old wardrobe, a bed just big enough for one person, and a small desk with a chair that seemed unstable and uncomfortable. After sitting down on the chair for a moment to test it, Risa decided not to do that anymore and sat down on the bed instead. The bed was as comfortable as Risa had imagined an at least 50-year-old bed to be; which meant not incredibly comfortable, but it worked well enough if she didn’t focus on the way it felt all the time.

Risa took her notebook out and started noting down what she had learned so far. That wasn’t exactly very much, but it at least gave her a hint regarding the direction she had to take her investigation.

_ Shida-san doesn’t know what a cell phone and the internet are. Phone is at least 50 years old. No modern devices at this village? _

_ No visitors spending the night here in a long time. Where did the other visitors who didn’t spend the night here go? _

_ Mayor is “not here.” Where is he? Some closed doors in his house. Will check them out later. _

She felt intrigued to go and check out those rooms right away, but she didn’t want to risk running into Manaka in the hallway. So instead of doing something that would help her investigation, Risa decided to spend the following forty-five minutes reading through the reports the police had given her.

_ Man disappeared, last seen near a village in the forest near xxx _

_ Woman disappeared in the forest near xxx _

_ Yet another disappearance near xxx, this time a man and his little daughter _

“Watanabe-san?”

Risa winced when the door opened. “Y-yes?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I knocked two times and you didn’t answer. Anyways, dinner is ready,” Manaka said.

“Did you… make it yourself?”

Manaka nodded, a little surprised. “Why?”

“Oh, I just thought a mayor would have someone working for him. Like, someone to help with the chores.”

“Well, we don’t.” That was the first thing Manaka said without hesitation that sounded like the genuine truth, and Risa decided to believe her.

“Alright.” Risa got up from the bed. “Let’s eat, then.” She followed Manaka to the kitchen and sat down, offering the younger woman a bite from her plate.

Manaka looked at her in irritation. “Uh, what…”

“Eat. I need to make sure you’re not trying to poison me,” Risa said.

“Seriously, I’m not.” But Manaka ate the bite anyways, and when nothing happened to her, Risa decided that the food had to be safe.

For a while, they ate in silence. Then, Manaka cautiously looked around and finally spoke up, “So… that cell phone you were talking about, how new is it?”

“What do you mean, how new is it? You mean when people started using it? I don’t know… twenty years ago, maybe, or twenty-five.”

“So it might be a bit older than me… I might have grown up using it if…”

“If what?” Risa asked, but she didn’t get an answer.

Instead, Manaka looked at her decisively. “We can’t talk about that outside,” she said. “Modern things aren’t allowed in this village. You’d better not take out your phone when others can see it.”

“Right, the taxi driver told me that you don’t want cars in here either… why not, what’s wrong with them?”

“...I can’t tell you.”

A heavy sigh left Risa’s lips. “You know you’d be rid of me much faster if you just answered my questions.”

A wry smile spread on Manaka’s lips. “Who says I wanted to get rid of you?”

“... _ what? _ ”

The younger woman chuckled briefly. “Don’t worry, I’m joking. But sadly, I’m not going to make it that easy for both of us. I’m trying, but there are some questions I can’t answer.”

Risa couldn’t resist the urge to roll her eyes, but then she decided to stop asking any questions for the night. She assumed she wasn’t going to get the answers she needed right now anyways.


	2. Chapter 2

In the next morning after breakfast, Risa asked Manaka to show her around the village, and the mayor’s daughter agreed. As soon as they left the house, however, Risa noticed something else being off.

“Look, it’s the heretic!”

“Aww, did she find a heretic friend so she doesn’t have to be alone anymore?”

A few children, probably no older than ten or twelve years, stopped playing and approached Manaka while yelling those things. Risa stopped in her tracks, a little confused, but Manaka just marched towards the children. “Go home!” she briskly told them, “Stop inconveniencing our guest! You can continue bullying me when the Detective is gone.”

Giggling, the children ran away, and Manaka turned back to Risa. “Let’s go.”

“Why were they calling you a heretic?”

“I’m… a little different from the other people in this village,” Manaka said, averting her eyes. “Maybe someday, you’ll find out. Or maybe not. Depends on how much you find out about the village.”

Risa glanced at her skeptically, but she figured that even if she asked what Manaka was talking about now, she probably wouldn’t get an answer. So instead, she attentively listened to the things Manaka told her about the village—about the small school, about the wall that surrounded it.

Eventually Manaka stopped in front of a house. “You could probably ask Yoda-san some questions,” she said, and when Risa nodded, she knocked at the door.

Yoda-san was an elderly woman who gave Manaka a gentle smile. “Hello, Shida-chan,” she greeted her, “were the children bullying you again?”

“Of course, they never stop that,” Manaka replied with a slightly awkward smile. “But I’m fine, Yoda-san. Please don’t worry about me.”

Yoda-san raised an eyebrow, but finally she nodded in acknowledgment. “Alright then. And who is your guest here? An Outsider?”

Manaka nodded. “This is Detective Watanabe Risa. She’s here to investigate because a few people disappeared, and they were last seen near here.”

The elderly woman’s expression darkened a little. “That, dear, is something you don’t want to get involved in,” she said softly. “It’s a dangerous topic.”

Risa sighed. “Shida-san told me that, too,” she replied. “But I can’t go home without any results, Yoda-san. If there’s anything you can tell me, then please let me know.”

A frown on her face, Yoda-san whispered something into Manaka’s ear. Manaka didn’t look very happy, but then she nodded and mumbled something in return. Eventually, they turned back to face Risa again. “Shida-chan likes you,” Yoda-san started, looking a bit amused about the way Manaka turned red and looked away in embarrassment. “She doesn’t want you to get into any danger. And neither do I; I’ve never been a fan of Outsiders being treated the way they are treated here.”

Risa raised an eyebrow; maybe  _ now _ she was finally going to get some information. “And ‘Outsiders’ are… people who don’t live in the village?”

Yoda-san inclined her head slightly.  _ Yes _ . “There’s something I’d like to show you,” she declared, glancing at Manaka briefly. “Or, more correctly… I’d like to go pray for my husband at the temple. Would you girls accompany me?”

A slight feeling of irritation overcame Risa, and she was about to say  _ I’m not here to watch you pray _ , but then she saw Manaka nod slightly. “...alright,” Risa agreed, albeit still a bit confused.

Yoda-san gave her a soft smile and started getting ready to leave the house. She led the way to a small temple near the wall surrounding the village, and Risa realized that this temple, regarding the statues in it and the form of the building, looked quite different from the temples she knew.

While the elderly woman was praying, Risa glanced over at Manaka. She was pretty sure she wasn’t required to pray here since this seemed like a temple for a religion different from her own, and in addition to that Risa didn’t even live in the village—but even Manaka, despite being the mayor’s daughter, stayed a few steps behind Yoda-san and didn’t bother to even bow to the statues or anything similar.

“Don’t you believe in these gods?” Risa whispered to her, and the younger woman shook her head slightly.  _...so that’s why those children called her a heretic _ , Risa thought to herself.  _ Because she doesn’t believe in their gods _ .

* * *

“Is this religion something everyone in the village believes in?” Risa asked Manaka later when they were leaving Yoda-san’s house. The elderly woman had invited them to stay and have a cup of tea with her, which they had done, and now they were on their way to continue the little tour around the village.

“I guess you can say that,” Manaka replied, and Risa thought to herself that she looked kind of unhappy about that.

“So what do those gods do?”

“They… protect the village, supposedly,” Manaka hesitated briefly, but what she said sounded like the truth. It made sense; even where Risa lived, people prayed to gods asking for protection. As of now, this was nothing special yet.

“From what?”

Now, the mayor’s daughter looked around as if this was something not everyone was supposed to know. Or maybe everyone did know, and Risa was the one who wasn’t supposed to know. Risa assumed that the latter was the case. “...from people like you. From Outsiders and their technologies.”

Things were slowly falling into place now; partially, at least. Now it made sense that there were no cars, no cell phones, no modern things in the village. But there were still things Risa didn’t understand. “So that’s why you didn’t know what a cell phone is.”

“Right. And that inter…  _ something _ .”

“The internet,” Risa automatically corrected her.

Manaka nodded and glanced at the houses surrounding them. “Don’t talk about it out here,” she repeated what she had already mentioned on Risa’s first evening with her. “People won’t be happy.”

Risa sighed quietly, but decided to obey. Things were going very slowly, but she felt like Manaka was willing to help out with her investigation even if she was saying different things. It was obvious by now that the mayor’s daughter wasn’t happy about some things that were happening in the village, and Risa figured that if she did what Manaka said, she might get a few more hints.

Later, after dinner that day, Risa retreated to the room that the phone was in. She dialed the number of the police station she worked with, and only after a few seconds, someone picked up the call. “Hello?”

“Hi, Detective Watanabe here,” Risa started, and the police officer greeted her, joking about how they had already thought that she might have disappeared as well because they hadn’t heard anything from her in the past two days. “I haven’t disappeared,” Risa retorted calmly. “But sadly I have to admit that I haven’t found out much, either.” She told him about this weird religion, about how the village wanted to be protected from the modern world and how Manaka, the mayor’s daughter of all people, seemed to want nothing to do with all of that. About how the mayor wasn’t there, and how there were a few locked doors in his house that she still needed to check out.

When she hung up, she heard the floorboards of the hallway creaking quietly, as well as light steps on them. “Shida-san—” she muttered under her breath, but then decided to let the younger woman off with it for now. She’d find a way to get her to admit that she had been eavesdropping the next day—it wasn’t like she had talked about anything Manaka hadn’t known yet, anyways.

The hallway was empty when Risa stepped out of the small room, but as she was heading towards her room, the younger woman called out for her. “Watanabe-san?”

“Yes?”

“Can you… come here for a bit?” Manaka sat on the sofa in the living room when Risa followed her voice. She almost looked a little embarrassed. “Could you do me a favor?”

Risa raised an eyebrow. “That depends on what kind of favor it is.”

“Can you tell me about your world? About what life is like there… the technologies you use, and stuff like that.”

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to talk about that kind of thing.”

Manaka smiled a bit sheepishly. “I locked the door, so even if someone hears us, they can’t do anything. I’m curious, Watanabe-san.”

Risa smiled wryly and sat down on the sofa. “Alright,” she agreed. “I’ll tell you a few things.” She didn’t even know why she had agreed to this. She could be spending the evening in her room, trying to figure out the connections between this weird religion and the disappearances, but instead, she felt like telling Manaka about her hometown was a nicer idea.

The mayor’s daughter listened attentively; she really was curious. She occasionally asked questions, especially when Risa was talking about how the internet made life much easier, but otherwise she didn’t interrupt her.

“But Shida-san, actually…”

“Manaka.” This was the first time that Manaka interrupted Risa to say something completely unrelated to their topic. “Call me Manaka, okay?”

“Well… I suppose you can call me Risa, then.” This had come completely out of nowhere, but weirdly enough it made Risa happy.

Manaka smiled brightly and nodded. “Okay, Risa. Is there anything else you can tell me?”

“There’s still a lot… but aren’t you getting tired?” A glance at the clock hanging on the wall told Risa that it was getting close to midnight.

This time the mayor’s daughter shook her head. “Tell me stories until I fall asleep,” she demanded before realizing what she had just said. “Uh, I mean, you can go to bed if you want. I know you still have to investigate tomorrow, after all.”

But there was a slightly lonely expression on her face when she said that, so Risa felt like leaving her alone now was the wrong thing to do. “No, it’s okay. Just this once, I’ll do it.”

Manaka smiled thankfully. “Thank you.” With that, she closed her eyes.

So Risa started talking again; quieter this time. Manaka didn’t interrupt her anymore. Instead, after a while, Risa felt a weight dropping against her shoulder. A gentle smile spread on her lips when she looked down at Manaka, whose head was now resting against Risa’s shoulder.  _ She’s cute…—no, what am I thinking! _ the Detective mentally scolded herself, but the realization that Manaka was cute when she looked like this still lingered at the back of her mind. Eventually, Risa’s eyes fell closed as well.


	3. Chapter 3

When Risa woke up in the next morning, all she could feel was a heavy, warm weight on top of her. Blinking tiredly, she opened her eyes just to be greeted with the sight of a bunch of soft black hair.  _ Shida-san. No. Manaka. _ Slowly, the memory of what had happened in the previous evening came back to Risa. The urge to wake Manaka up and get up slowly vanished, so Risa relaxed a little and watched the younger woman sleep for a while. Eventually, though, she noticed that it was getting late. “Manaka,” she said quietly, shaking Manaka’s shoulder gently. “You should get up, it’s getting late.”

Manaka groaned tiredly and her expression changed from cute to unwilling, but then she finally opened her eyes. “Hmm?” Then she realized that she was lying on top of Risa, and she quickly tried to move away. “Oh, sorry—”

“It’s alright,” Risa tried to calm her down, feeling just ever so slightly sad about the loss of warmth and comfort that came with Manaka’s movements. “I don’t mind.”

Manaka relaxed a bit when she heard that, but she still averted her eyes. “You could just have gone to bed and left me here.”

“No, I fell asleep myself. It’s fine, really. I think…” After hesitating for a moment, she continued, “I think I slept better this night than I did last night.”

“...anyways, I’ll go and make us breakfast!” Manaka jumped to her feet and hurried to the kitchen, looking a bit embarrassed.

The creaking of the floorboards reminded Risa of how she had heard that exact same sound on the previous evening after her phone call.  _ I still need to talk to her about that. _ “Manaka,” she called out, following the younger woman into the kitchen. “About last night…”

“So you hated it after all—”

“That’s not it,” Risa cut in. “It was nice. But there’s something else we have to talk about.”

Manaka raised an eyebrow. “What is it, then?”

“During that call I made with the police station, you were eavesdropping, weren’t you?”

The mayor’s daughter visibly tensed up, but she shook her head. “...no, I didn’t.”

Risa’s heart clenched a little. She had thought that after the last night, they might be close enough to stop lying to each other, but apparently Manaka didn’t think the same way. “I heard you walk away afterwards, though. You were—”

“I wasn’t!” Manaka blurted out instinctively, like she had lost control over her feelings for a moment.

“ _ Why? _ Why were you eavesdropping, why are you lying now—”

“Risa, shut up!” Manaka had paused in her movement of cutting some vegetables, now she spun on her heels and stared at Risa, obviously upset. “It’s for your own safety!”

Risa fell silent, surprised. “For my own safety…?”

Only now did Manaka seem to realize what she had just said. She bit her lip and turned back to the food she had been preparing. “You already know too much, even if you feel like you don’t know anything,” she said bitterly. “Taking you to Yoda-san’s house was already something I shouldn’t have done.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“You’re a nice person, I like you. You said you couldn’t go home without any information, so I tried to give you some… but I realized that I’m just putting you into danger.” That was the explanation she stuck with for the next few days. Those days passed with Manaka refusing to let Risa find out anything else.

Eventually, Risa had enough of it. Four days after their fight, she waited until she was sure that Manaka was asleep; then she headed to the stairs that led down to the basement—one of the places that Manaka had avoided during their tour around the house. The door was locked, but Risa found the key hanging on a nail in the wall, hidden behind a tapestry near the door.

When she turned the key, the lock made a weird creaking sound, but even after Risa had waited for a minute or two, she couldn’t hear any sounds that might have meant that Manaka had woken up. So the Detective entered the room and switched on the light.

What she saw was different from anything she had expected to find. Risa didn’t even know  _ what _ she had expected in particular; she just knew that it was anything but this. In the dim light, she could see big knives, a few old-fashioned guns, shovels and axes, even a bucket that looked like it was big enough to fit someone’s head inside to drown them. Taking a second glance, she thought she could also see one or two swords leaning against the wall behind all the other tools.

A cold feeling overcame Risa when she saw all this. “No…” she mumbled as it dawned on her—what had probably happened to all the people who had disappeared here.  _ No, I don’t have any proof. Maybe they’re not dead, maybe all of this has nothing to do with the disappearances. _ But it felt like a plausible explanation.

Staggering ever so slightly, Risa took a few steps back out of the room. She made sure to switch off the light and lock the door again, placing the key behind the tapestry where she had taken it from. Then she hurried up the stairs and started making her way back to her room. She was already almost there when she heard a voice—a male voice talking.

“She’s been here for too long, she’s finding out too much.”

“You’re right. She should disappear.” Another male voice. Risa silently wondered where they came from all of a sudden. She stopped in her tracks and tried to move closer to the dining room without making the floor creak too loudly. And then—

“Don’t do that to her.”

_ Manaka. Did she let those men in? Or were they hiding in one of the rooms she didn’t show me? But… for days?  _ Risa’s thoughts started racing as she tried to make sense of this.

“Don’t do that to her,” Manaka repeated, and it almost sounded like she was pleading. “She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“It’s not about doing something wrong, Manaka,” the first man reprimanded her, his voice sounding sharp. “The gods must be asking for a sacrifice again.”

Manaka started sounding more tense with each word she said. “Leave Risa alone. She’s just trying to find out what’s going on, she’s just trying to help those people’s families.”

“Then how about this— _ you _ disappear instead.”

For a few moments, it was silent in the room and Risa tensed up slightly.

“Dad…” Manaka’s voice was weak when she spoke up again. “Are you serious…?”

“Yes.”

_ The mayor, he’s here. _ Risa had to force herself to stay where she was, not wanting to burst into the room and put both herself and Manaka into danger. She’d have to find him somehow on the next day.

“Then…” Manaka’s voice was shaking ever so slightly. “...then I’ll disappear. If that means you’ll let Risa go. I don’t want her to see that kind of thing.”

“You have two days. Once those are up, we’ll do it regardless of whether she’s still here or not.”

Those words rang in Risa’s ears as she slowly moved backwards, trying to go to her room in a way that wouldn’t make the floorboards creak.  _ She’s going to disappear. She’s going to disappear for me. _

That night, Risa had nightmares. She dreamed of Manaka’s head being chopped off and then being dropped into a bucket full of blood.

“Risa?” Manaka had just come in to wake her up, but her voice alone was enough to make Risa sit up rapidly, letting out a hoarse cry. “Uh, are you okay…?”

Risa could only stare at her with wide eyes for a moment. “M-Manaka… you’re alive…”

“Yes… why wouldn’t I be?”

Eventually, Risa shook her head, letting out a shaky sigh. “I just… had a nightmare, don’t worry.” She brought one hand up to rub her forehead with a quiet groan. “I… I’ll be ready for breakfast soon, just give me a few minutes.”

Manaka simply stared at her for a moment, then she nodded. “Alright, let’s meet up in the kitchen then,” she suggested, and Risa nodded.

They met up in the kitchen a bit later; Risa had gotten dressed and put on some make-up, feeling like she at least looked like things were fine now. For a while, they ate in silence, until Manaka cleared her throat and spoke up. “Something urgent came up,” she started, and Risa immediately knew what she was going to say next. “...I’m sorry, but you need to leave within the next two days.”

Risa remained silent for a moment. “What is it that came up?” she then asked, even though she already knew the answer to that question. “Why can’t I stay?”

“Risa, please don’t ask any questions.” Manaka averted her eyes, her hands clenching to fists on top of the table. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that there are some things going on here that I don’t think you deserve to be involved in. In two days, I won’t… have time for you anymore, so…”

“I’m not leaving.”

“Risa—”

“No, listen to me.” Risa’s eyes narrowed. “What happens to you in two days?”

“I told you, I…”

“ _ No _ .” Risa leaned closer to the younger woman. “Will you die?”

Manaka’s eyes widened slightly. “I… no, how did you get that idea? Of course I won’t…”

Risa let out a heavy sigh, burying her face in her hands for a moment. “Manaka. Who were the men who were here last night, and what are the tools in that room in the basements for?”

The younger girl stiffened, then she looked away. “...my father and one of his friends,” she eventually admitted, her voice quiet. “They’re kinda… the leaders of the village.”

“And they’re going to make you disappear… so,  _ does _ disappearing mean ‘dying?’” At this point, she was pretty sure that was the case.

Manaka but her lip hard enough to make it bleed. “How did you figure that out? Or is all of this still just an assumption?”

“The room in the basement. The one with all the axes and knives and so on; I went in there last night. Were those tools used to kill all the people who disappeared?”

For a while, Manaka remained silent. Then, she got up. “Come with me,” she said quietly. “I’ll tell you what’s going on here.”


	4. Chapter 4

Manaka led the way up a small hill, to an area that was a bit secluded from the rest of the village. “This,” she explained slowly, “is our cemetery.”

It was different from any cemetery Risa had seen before. Instead of clean, proper graves with flowers or similar things, there were simply endless rows of grey tombstones without any names on them. It was an incredibly sad and depressing view, and Risa started to feel slightly sick when she just thought about why there were so many graves. “Is this…”

Manaka nodded in silence. “...it’s where all the people who disappeared ended up.”

Risa could only shake her head in disbelief.  _ Impossible _ . “How? How is that possible? So many people… they all died here? By the hands of the people who live here?”

“Yes.” Manaka closed her eyes for a moment. “That’s right. That’s what happened to them. Are you happy now that you know?”

“No, of course not…  _ why _ ? Why did they have to die? So many innocent people—”

“For the gods!” Manaka blurted out, and now she almost looked desperate. “They were sacrificed to the gods. The villagers believe that whenever an Outsider comes here, the gods are asking for a sacrifice. They think that if the gods don’t get their sacrifices, the ‘modern world’ will take over the village, so the Outsiders had to die.”

A gust of wind blew towards them, sending a cold shiver down Risa’s spine. “That’s cruel, that’s far too cruel. Don’t they feel guilty about killing so many people?”

A bitter laugh left Manaka’s lips. “ _ I  _ feel guilty, even though I’ve never participated in their rites. But they’re happy as long as they feel protected by the gods, no matter how many innocent people they have to kill for it.”

_ That’s so sick.  _ Risa’s hands clenched to fists. “That’s crazy,” she mumbled to herself.

“Want to hear something even crazier?” At this point, Manaka’s voice sounded bleak and almost lifeless. She gestured at the grey rows of graves below them. “One of these graves is my mum’s. I don’t even know which one it is.”

“... _ what _ ?” That explained why the villagers didn’t like Manaka, at least, but it made Risa feel even sicker about this whole situation.

“She came here about twenty years ago,” Manaka started explaining. “The plan was to kill her right away, but Dad kinda liked her. I was born nine months later, and they let her live for one or two more years because there was no other woman whose breast milk I could have drunk… and as soon as I could live without that, she was made a sacrifice. I have no memory of her.”

Risa couldn’t resist the urge to pull the younger woman into a hug. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

Manaka slowly brought her arms up and returned the hug. She hadn’t been hugged in a long time, so she felt kind of awkward; but Risa’s warmth was very comforting. “...thank you.”

“Your father seems like a horrible person,” Risa mumbled, a certain feeling of possessiveness overcoming her. “I won’t let you die for him and this religion.”

“But… I have to. He’s the only family I have left. And besides, it’s either you or me. You’re innocent, I want you to go home…” She fell silent, resting her forehead against Risa’s shoulder for a moment.

And then, the Detective had an idea. “What if you leave with me?”

Manaka’s eyes widened in surprise; she hadn’t even thought about this. “Leave?  _ Me _ ?”

“Yeah. You’re curious, right? About what life outside of this village is like. You could live with me, if you want. I could teach you everything you need to know, and if you don’t want to live with me anymore, you can move out.” It sounded like the perfect solution to Risa, although it probably wasn’t very professional.

Manaka hesitated. It sounded so very tempting; she didn’t want to die, and she wanted to know what her mother’s life had been like. This would be the perfect way to satisfy her curiosity. But still… “But he’s my Dad. I can’t just leave… and besides, they won’t let us leave just like that. If we both leave, they won’t have anyone to sacrifice anymore…”

“I don’t care.” Risa’s voice was sharp now. “You have no reason to die for them. You’ve spent twenty years of your life here watching them kill people for a religion you don’t believe in—don’t you think it’s enough now?”

Manaka fell silent and closed her eyes for a moment. Then, she finally nodded. “You’re right,” she replied, sounding a bit more decisive now. “I don’t want this to continue. Even if he’s my Dad, I can’t let him keep doing all this.”

A sigh of relief left Risa’s lips. She had already been worried, thinking Manaka might reject her offer purely due to some kind of ‘familiar connection’ she felt with her father. Hearing the younger woman’s agreement made Risa weirdly happy, even though this wasn’t the right time for such feelings. “Let’s go, then,” she suggested, “I guess the sooner we get away from here, the better.”

Manaka lowered her head in agreement. “But… can we say goodbye to Yoda-san?” she asked quietly. “She’s always treated me well, so…”

“...alright.” Risa tried to give Manaka an encouraging smile, but then she decided that this was still a rather serious situation. She led the way to Yoda-san’s house and knocked at the door.

The elderly woman opened the door for them and Manaka entered the house first, looking like she was suffering a bit. “Yoda-san,” she spoke up hesitantly. “I’m here to say goodbye.”

There was a solemn smile on the woman’s face as she answered. “I thought so. Ever since Watanabe-san arrived here, you’ve changed, Shida-chan. I figured you’d choose her over the village in the end.”

“I—”

“It’s fine. I heard that the others are going to make you disappear… I’m glad you’re choosing to leave instead.”

Manaka looked like she was about to cry as she stepped forward and pulled Yoda-san into a tight hug.  _ She really must have been like a mother to Manaka, _ Risa thought to herself as she watched them. For a moment she considered taking Yoda-san with them, but the elderly woman seemed like she was happy with staying at the village. For a few minutes, Risa watched Manaka and Yoda-san exchange a few quiet words; then, she spoke up. “We… should leave, Manaka.”

Manaka pulled away from Yoda-san and closed her eyes briefly as she nodded. “Alright. Thank you, Yoda-san.”

The older woman gave her a gentle smile. “You don’t need to thank me.” She turned around to Risa, a hint of amusement visible in her eyes. “And you’d better take good care of Shida-chan, Watanabe-san.”

Risa managed a small smile and bowed slightly. “Of course.” She glanced over at Manaka questioningly, and the younger woman gave her a smile that seemed just a little forced.

“I’m ready, let’s go.” Manaka led the way out of the house without another word, and she remained silent during their short walk back to the mayor’s house. Risa wanted to say something to cheer her up, but in the end, she couldn’t think of anything.

“How much stuff do you think I should bring along?” Manaka asked as she unlocked the door, stepping inside first. “How are we even leaving?”

Risa took out her phone to check the screen, but the  _ No Service  _ notification was still there. “I can’t call a taxi right now, so we’ll need to walk a bit first. So maybe you shouldn’t bring along too many things… you’ll need new clothes and all that, we can buy that once we get to the town.”

“A… taxi?”

“A car that will come to pick us up. I’ll call one once we’re out of here; the other villagers would probably immediately know what we’re up to if a car comes here again.”  _ They’ll know anyways _ , a voice in Risa’s mind yelled, but she told herself that things would be fine.

They finished packing their things relatively quickly, which was partially due to the fact that Risa hadn’t really taken anything out of her bag to begin with. Manaka, Risa realized, was either not very emotionally attached to anything in the house, or most of the things didn’t actually belong to her. She barely even filled up one small bag, and when Risa asked if that really was all she needed, the younger woman simply shrugged. “You said we can buy clothes in your town, right? Then this is all I need.”

Risa nodded slowly. “Let’s go, then.”

Manaka left the key to the house on the dining table and followed her. As they left the house, nobody seemed to be out in the streets—not even the children who were usually playing there, which was something that seemed a bit strange to them, but Manaka told herself not to worry about it too much.  _ The sky looks like it’s about to rain. That must be why they’re playing inside. _

Silence. It was a little unsettling, like things were going too smoothly.

Risa occasionally glanced over at Manaka, not really sure if she was supposed to say something, but the younger woman seemed to be lost in her thoughts, so in the end, the Detective remained silent.

Much to their surprise, they made it out of the village without anyone stopping them. It was like nobody had considered the idea of Manaka leaving— _ I’m too loyal for that. They didn’t think I’d leave my only relative. _ Manaka squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and shook her head, wincing when she felt something touch her hand gently. “R-Risa—”

“Are you sure you want to leave?” Risa asked, feeling like she needed to make sure of this now that Manaka suddenly looked like she regretted her decision. “You… if you really want it, you can—”

“No!” Manaka blurted out almost desperately, shaking her head once more. “I don’t want to stay here, I don’t want to die. There’s so much more I want to do, I can’t let it end now.”

A heavy sigh of relief left Risa’s lips; relief washing over her with the force of a tornado. She stopped in her tracks and turned around to give Manaka a hug. “If that’s the case, everything’s going to be fine. You’re going to be fine, believe me. I’m going to make sure of that.”

Manaka slowly raised her arms to return the hug, clinging onto Risa. “Okay. I’m… gonna believe you, then. Thank you.”

Risa allowed Manaka to hold onto her for a few minutes. Then, when she felt raindrops on her skin, she gently freed herself from the younger woman’s hold. “Let’s go, we don’t know when they’ll realize that you’re gone.”

Manaka instinctively took ahold of Risa’s hand as they started walking again. She easily kept up with the Detective’s pace, and glanced over Risa’s shoulder whenever she took out her phone to check it.

And then, finally, Risa noticed that the  _ No Service _ notification was finally gone. “Finally,” she muttered to herself. “I’m gonna call for a taxi now, okay? Can we keep walking until we reach the nearest town? I’d rather not have to ask the driver to come all the way here…”

“Alright,” Manaka agreed, listening curiously as Risa asked the driver to pick them up in the nearest town. Because it seemed like the villagers still hadn’t sent anyone to follow them, they walked a bit slower until they reached their destination.

The taxi was already waiting for them, and as the back door opened, Risa motioned for Manaka to get inside. However, Manaka didn’t move.

“Manaka…?”

“I don’t trust it.”

“What do you not trust?”

“The…” Manaka gestured at the car, a skeptical expression on her face. “The car. Why would I willingly get into this kind of thing?”

Risa let out a barely audible sigh; maybe getting Manaka used to the ‘modern world’ would be harder than she had thought. “It’s not going to hurt you, believe me. See, I’m getting in too.” She got into the car and then offered Manaka her hand. “Come on, it’s fine. It’s safe.”

Although she never stopped looking so skeptical, Manaka got into the car as well and clutched Risa’s hand between hers. Shaking his head slightly, the driver started the car.

The drive to Risa’s hometown took about two hours. Despite her initial distrust, Manaka had soon closed her eyes and she was resting her head on Risa’s shoulder, and Risa was unconsciously stroking Manaka’s hand which had never loosened its grip. Then, they arrived and Risa gently shook the younger woman awake. “We’ve arrived, Manaka.”

Sleepily, Manaka followed her out of the car and, after Risa had paid the driver, into the Detective’s apartment. “Wow… this is… so different.” She looked around with wide eyes, not even putting down her bag first.

Risa let her go ahead for a few minutes, a soft smile on her lips. Then she gestured for Manaka to follow her. “Let me show you around. Here’s the bedroom, this is the bathroom, and you saw the living room and kitchen already.” As she opened the door to the bedroom, she put her bag inside, mentally making a note to unpack it later.

Manaka stood a few steps behind her, remaining silent for a few moments. Then she spoke up slowly. “Uh, Risa?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you. I’m really glad you came to the village and took me away from there.”

Risa let out a small sigh, smiling a bit fondly. “You don’t need to thank me for that. I just want you to be happy, too.”

A wide smile spread on Manaka’s lips, and to Risa, it looked as bright as the sun itself for a moment. “I’ll be happy from now on, I’m absolutely sure. Risa is by my side now, after all.”

And when she heard that, Risa knew she had done the right thing.


	5. Chapter 5

It was the second evening after their arrival in Risa’s hometown. Risa came out of the bathroom rubbing her hair with a towel. “I’m done, you can—uh, Manaka?”

The younger woman knelt on the carpet in the living room, right in front of the TV. She was staring at it with wide eyes, occasionally poking against the screen with her finger. “How does this work?”

“What? What are you even doing? And could you stop touching the screen? You’ll get your fingerprints all over it.” Risa gently pulled her away from the TV and guided her back to the sofa.

“Where are the people?” Manaka asked, still pointing at the TV. “I thought they were hiding in the box, but it’s way too thin to fit a real person.”

A small smile of amusement spread on Risa’s lips. “They’re not inside the TV. They’re somewhere else, probably far away. The pictures are being recorded there, and they’re transmitted to this screen with some kind of signal.”

Manaka made a drawn-out  _ Ah~ _ sound that didn’t sound like she understood what Risa was talking about. Risa sighed quietly; she felt a bit like she was explaining technology to a little child. But she had brought that upon herself, and she was still glad Manaka had come with her. “I’ll see if I can come up with a better explanation by tomorrow. Do you want to take a bath now?”

Manaka shook her head before leaning it onto Risa’s shoulder. “You’re too comfortable to get up.”

“But you do know that we need to get up early tomorrow?” Risa had taken her first day after their return off work to help Manaka get used to her new surroundings, but now it was high time for the detective to tell her superiors about what she had discovered in the village. She had also declared that she was going to bring Manaka along as a witness.

Pouting, the younger woman stayed where she was for a moment longer, but then she slid off the sofa and moved towards the bathroom. “If you need help with anything, tell me,” Risa called after her before switching off the TV and getting up as well. She headed to the bedroom and laid down on the bed already, reading a few more pages of the book she had started to read before traveling to the village.

And then, Manaka came in, wrapped in the bathrobe Risa had left in the bathroom for her. “Risa? I’m done.”

Risa looked up from her book, simply looking at Manaka for a moment. She couldn’t help but think that the younger woman looked cute, wrapped in the soft and fluffy bathrobe that Risa had originally bought for herself just because she liked the feeling of the fabric on her skin. Then, Risa realized that she was staring at Manaka, and she cleared her throat, blushing slightly. “Good. Can you switch the light off when you come here?” she asked while switching on the smaller lamp on her nightstand.

Manaka gave her an affirmative nod and switched off the light, walking over and jumping onto the bed. “So… we’re going to the police station tomorrow, right?”

A little surprised by the sudden change of topic, Risa nodded. “Right. Are you sure it’s okay for you? Testifying against your own father and the people you lived with for your whole life?”

Manaka grimaced, sighing as she laid down next to Risa. “‘The people who bullied me for my whole life’ is closer to reality. I… they’ll be arrested, won’t they?”

“Most of them, yes. I suppose their children will be sent to an orphanage, and the adults will be taken to jail… for murder, or for complicity in murder, depending on whether they actively killed anyone or not.”

For a while, it was silent, and Risa thought that for some absurd reason, Manaka might have fallen asleep while listening to her. But then, the black-haired woman spoke up. “Can you tell them not to make Yoda-san go to jail? She never did anything wrong, so I don’t want her to be treated like all those… criminals.”

Risa smiled weakly. Yoda-san had been the only person in the entire village, besides Manaka, who had tried to help her out and to be kind to her. “I’ll do whatever I can. I might not be able to keep her out of jail completely, since she never tried to stop the others from killing people, but maybe we can ask the judge to let extenuating circumstances prevail. And in any case, we can visit her too, if she has to go to jail.”

Manaka nodded, seeming happy enough with that. She reached out to squeeze Risa’s hand. “That’s good. I’m fine with testifying against them, then.”

“Very good.” Risa exhaled, feeling a little relieved. She squeezed Manaka’s hand as well, her smile gaining a little strength. “Then let’s sleep now. You’ll probably need some energy for whatever might happen tomorrow.”

“You’re right.” Manaka rested her head against Risa’s shoulder and closed her eyes. She seemed to have fallen asleep within minutes, so Risa switched off the small lamp on her nightstand and went to sleep as well.

* * *

In the next morning, they got up early. Risa had figured that it would take her colleagues from the police station some time to actually head to the village and arrest its inhabitants, so it was better to get the procedures for that started sooner rather than later.

Manaka mostly remained silent while they were having breakfast, and during their bus ride to the police station. Risa assumed that she was maybe thinking of what to say during her interrogation later, so she decided to let Manaka have some time to herself.

And then, they arrived at the police station. Manaka stared at the building for a moment, then she tried to put on a brave smile. “Let’s go inside, then.”

“Think of it this way,” Risa tried to turn Manaka’s nervousness into excitement instead. “You’ve never been inside a police station before, right? And especially not one with modern equipment. So isn’t this exciting?”

Manaka hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded, her eyes sparkling a little when she thought of all the new things she might get to see and learn about now.

Risa smiled and patted Manaka’s back, nodding in satisfaction as she led the way inside. She was greeted by her colleagues cheerfully, one of them laughing when he saw her with Manaka.

“So you not only survived your trip to that mysterious village, but you also got to bring home a cute girlfriend? I’m so jealous~!”

Both Risa and Manaka blushed brightly, and the Detective shook her head quickly. “Hey, Kitano-senpai, please don’t say that! She- she’s not my girlfriend!”

The older policeman laughed even more before finally calming down. “Alright, alright. You two are here for something more serious anyways, right? I heard you’re going to get a whole village arrested.”

“Except for the children and Yoda-san,” Manaka blurted out, apparently feeling like it was important to make that clear to the policemen in front of her.

Kitano raised an eyebrow, amused. “Well, why don’t you come with me for the interrogation then, Shida-chan? Watanabe can tell everyone else what she found out in the meantime.”

Manaka looked a little surprised. “Eh… I thought Risa was going to interrogate me…”

“Sorry, that won’t work out. Since you’re friends with her, she might end up trying to alter your testimony for your benefit.”

Confused, Manaka turned to Risa. “You wouldn’t do that, would you…?”

“Of course not. But the police always has to assume the worst,” Risa gave her a calming smile. “And you shouldn’t be so worried about that anyways.  _ If _ I wanted to alter your testimony, I would alter it for your benefit.”

Manaka pouted, shaking her head. “But I want the police to know the truth.”

“That’s why I’d never even try to alter your testimony,” Risa said, patting Manaka’s shoulder. “And now go with Kitano-senpai. He’s very experienced, he’ll take good care of you.”

“Alright. I’ll see you later then.” Nodding in agreement, Manaka hurried to follow Aino into the interrogation room.

* * *

Manaka’s interrogation took longer than it took Risa to fill her colleagues in on the things she had learned in the village. Risa glanced at the watch hanging on the wall with a hint of nervousness, suddenly fearing that Kitano might arrest Manaka after all.

But one of her other coworkers, Mai who had just been transferred to this department from a different city a few weeks ago, spoke up after Risa had finished her story. “So… you really solved the mystery of all those disappearances just like that?”

Risa laughed bitterly. “Oh, it wasn’t ‘just like that,’ Mai-san. But I did solve the mystery. That is, with the help of Manaka and Yoda-san.”

Mai nodded slowly, rubbing her forehead. “So now we basically have to arrest a whole village…”

In that moment, the door to the office opened and Manaka stepped inside, looking relieved.

“Manaka!” Risa blurted out, instinctively stepping closer to the younger woman. “How did it go?”

“Well… I told Kitano-san everything,” Manaka replied, smiling weakly. “He said he was going to send some people to the village and bring the villagers here then. So… I guess everything worked out okay?”

Risa let out a heavy sigh of relief and nodded. “Good,” she said, reaching out to squeeze Manaka’s hand. “That’s very good.”

“We can take things from here, then,” Kitano announced as he stepped into the room. “You can take Shida-chan for a walk or something. We’ll get a search warrant for all the houses in the village, and then we’ll take everyone here and arrest them.”

“Uhm,” Manaka cleared her throat and spoke up, a slightly awkward smile on her lips. “Can I… see my father when you bring him here? I just want to tell him… that he can’t ruin my life anymore from now on.”

Risa nodded again, smiling. “Of course. You can see him when he’s securely locked up in a cell, and you can tell him whatever you want.”

Manaka gulped, seeming a little nervous when imagining her father being locked up in a cell, but then she smiled as well. “Thank you.”

* * *

It took the police a day to bring all the adult villagers to the city and take them to their cells. They still needed to be interrogated, but Kitano, who led the group of policemen taking care of this case, had declared that they would wait with that until the next day because it was such a hassle to arrest and interrogate a whole village.

On the evening of the day of her interrogation, Risa took Manaka back to the police station. They had spent the day walking around town, with Risa showing the younger woman the streets near the police station. In the evening, Risa led the way back to the station, lowering her head thankfully as they passed by Kitano. “Thank you, Kitano-senpai.”

Kitano smirked slightly. “You owe me one for taking care of all this,” he said, but he didn’t sound very serious. Still, Risa took a mental note to at least buy him a cake or something similar to express how thankful she was for his help.

She headed towards the cells, followed by Manaka. Manaka’s father glared at them from his cell, an angry expression on his face. “So you ratted us out,” he growled, and Risa thought she could see a dangerous glint in his eyes. For a moment, she was glad that there were sturdy metal bars separating them, even though as a Detective, she shouldn’t be too scared of criminals. “The gods will make sure you suffer for this…”

“Dad,” Manaka spoke up, interrupting him. She frowned, folding her arms in front of her chest. “You’ve been hurting innocent people for far too long. It was time for all our secrets to come to an end.”

“The gods won’t accept this—”

“The gods,” Manaka cut in sharply, “don’t matter anymore. Actually, I doubt they ever existed. You were just trying to justify your own craziness… and people had to die for something that was never real. All of that had to finally end.”

Her father opened his mouth to spit out some more words, but Manaka turned around to Risa. “Can we go home, Risa?”

“Of course.” Risa glanced at Manaka’s father once more before placing her hand on Manaka’s back and leading the younger woman away from her father’s cell.

As they walked through the police station, saying goodbye to Risa’s colleagues on their way out, Risa suddenly felt a hand taking ahold of hers. When she turned to look at Manaka in slight surprise.

The younger woman just smiled at her awkwardly. “Do you mind…?”

Risa shook her head, a small smile on her lips.

That evening, Manaka fell asleep first, curled up on the bed with her head resting on Risa’s shoulder. Risa watched her with a fond smile; maybe Aino had been right.

Maybe she really had brought a ‘cute girlfriend’ home from the mysterious village.


End file.
